Newb - is my beer dead?

[AdamBoca]

Brewed my first extract batch this past Saturday. Used the American Wheat from Northern....first day it was bubbling like crazy....the last two days it seems like the bubbling is no more....

House temp is 70 degrees...I have the carboy in a private room that stays fairly dark and not used....

Thoughts?

 

[Yooper]

Brewed my first extract batch this past Saturday. Used the American Wheat from Northern....first day it was bubbling like crazy....the last two days it seems like the bubbling is no more....

House temp is 70 degrees...I have the carboy in a private room that stays fairly dark and not used....

Thoughts?

I've personally seen beer fermenting temperature as much as 10 degrees above the ambient temperature. I'll assume that since it was "bubbling like crazy" the first day that the beer temperature got quite warm.

Fermentation itself produces heat, so if the wort was, say, 75 degrees, when the yeast was added and it's in a 70 degree warm, the fermentation temperature could have easily gone over 80 degrees. That means a very fast (sometimes explosive) fermentation. I've seen fermentations that got hot be done in less than 24 hours.

 

[theck]

It's all good, let it sit for another 3-4 weeks and take a FG reading (1.01ish and your gold)... could be a variety of things like leaking buckets to it's finished... just let it mellow now before you keg/bottle it.

 

[AdamBoca]

Thanks for the replies!

 

[theck]

If your really concerned , spray some starsan on the lid and hands, open it up and then look in... you should either see:

or

The first is still going pretty well, second is done... shove your head in the second and sniff... not too hard cuz the co2 will knock you back but it should smell sort of like beer. If you have this on top worry:

 

[Qhrumphf]

What Yooper said. With the exception that one time I saw fermentation go up to 15 degrees higher, but 5-10 degrees being common.

But rather than dead, your beer is probably done fermenting already, especially at that high of temperature. Even with controlled temperatures, I have many beers bubble like crazy for a day or two, and then fall silent. It's not unusual my my English session beers to bubble like mad the day after brew day, and be all but silent the next day.

Although if you fermented as warm as you're saying, you'll be best served letting it sit in the fermenter a while to mellow out.

For future reference, search the forum for "swamp coolers" to control your fermentation temperature on the cheap and easy. If nothing else, it greatly restricts the fermentation spike to within 1-2 degrees (in my own personal observations), and more often than not eliminates the spike entirely if you surround up to the level of the beer with water. Your yeasties will reward you with better beer, and your taste buds will thank you.

 

[Yooper]

It's all good, let it sit for another 3-4 weeks and take a FG reading (1.01ish and your gold)... could be a variety of things like leaking buckets to it's finished... just let it mellow now before you keg/bottle it.

Another 3-4 weeks seems like an awful long time to me, but it probably wouldn't hurt a bit.

I would think 10 days more would be sufficient.

 

[AdamBoca]

Thanks again for the helpful replies!

My krausen looks like this, so I think we are good..

 

[theck]

Another 3-4 weeks seems like an awful long time to me, but it probably wouldn't hurt a bit.

I would think 10 days more would be sufficient.

I let mine mellow a lot... usually I have a keg full, brew, runs out in 4 weeks then fill, brew, repeat... The more it sits in the primary the better it seems to turn out.

 

[theck]

Thanks again for the helpful replies!

My krausen looks like this, so I think we are good..

ya your ok, just let it drop before you bother messing with it. Check your FG then find out if it has really finished, the more time it sits IMO the better really but I know I get anxious, esp during the winter when I can't brew as much so at least try to wait for the krausen to drop.

 

[Yooper]

I let mine mellow a lot... usually I have a keg full, brew, runs out in 4 weeks then fill, brew, repeat... The more it sits in the primary the better it seems to turn out.

Yes, some people do like the flavor imparted by the yeast in a longer primary.

I am not one of them, and I think it's about equally divided among "primary only" brewers. I like ales that have been in the primary about 7-10 days, or maybe a bit longer if fermentation was slower than normal, or when FG has been reached for at least 3 days. That's the "sweet spot" for me.

 

[krackin]

Thanks again for the helpful replies!

My krausen looks like this, so I think we are good..

That would look good on the home made pizza thread too.

 

[Yooper]

ya your ok, just let it drop before you bother messing with it. Check your FG then find out if it has really finished, the more time it sits IMO the better really but I know I get anxious, esp during the winter when I can't brew as much so at least try to wait for the krausen to drop.

Yep, wait for the krausen to drop and then the beer will start to clear. At that point, it's fine to do the next step, depending on what you're making.

 

[AdamBoca]

That would look good on the home made pizza thread too.

I am a pizza snob and I agree!

I have a KettlePizza and make pizza once a month....San Marzano's and homemade dough......love me a good pie!

 

[AdamBoca]

Here is my pizza oven...

 

[user 141939]

Here is my pizza oven...

Cool! How hot does that thing get?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[AdamBoca]

I have seen 900+!

Regular charcoal will get to 550 and then when you add hard wood to it the temp almost doubles...